The Tag Up Drill is designed to teach players how to properly tag up.
Setup
Players line up at third base. The first runner will take a lead position.
Drill Instructions
- On the coach’s mark, the runner will take a secondary lead.
- The runner should run back to third and tag up. On the coach’s signal, the runner should take off to home plate.
- With this drill, you want to emphasize tagging up properly. When taking their lead, players should always be in foul territory. Players should tag up with their left foot and wait for the catch signal before taking off to score.
- For a variation of the Tag Up Drill, players can practice tagging up on balls hit down the left-field line. In this scenario, players would repeat steps 1 – 2 but tag up with their right foot so that they have a better view of the ball.
- For a more advanced variation, the coach should call out plays that force the runners to make quick decisions. Including misread fly balls can increase the difficulty even further.
